Vietnam - Hanoi and Halong Bay

Our descent into Hanoi was slightly delayed by the VIPs leaving the APEC conference and we circled for several minutes before being granted permission to land. With our visas in hand we breezed into the country and made our way to the Old Quarter. It was all lit up and sparkling, though we were unsure if it was always like that or had been cleaned up for the conference. We checked into the hotel and went off to wander the streets, in search of dinner and to take in the atmosphere of the city. There are a lot of tourists here, of all ages, and the travelling infrastructure is well set up with tour operators on every street corner. After a night wrestling with the AC control we went in to organise a trip to Halong Bay and to determine our plan. In the afternoon we then visited the Temple of Literature, one of the oldest buildings in the city and to a traditional water puppet show. The food here is good and unbelievably cheap, so we had a huge dinner. The next morning we got onto a bus with five other couples about our age to explore that icon of Vietnam, Halong Bay. You know the obligatory shot in the films of the rounded karst hill emerging from the mist in the middle of a bay? That's the place. We had a boat trip out along the bay, visited a cave and then spent the night on an island, where we kayaked, played volleyball with the staff, beat both Holland and Germany at pool and had a barbeque on the beach. We spent the day returning to Hanoi, where we were catching the overnight train south. E